After the success of The Wages of Fear(Le
salaire de la peur) Henri-Georges Clouzot cemented his reputation with his
masterpiece, Les diaboliques.

Based on a novel by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac (who also wrote the novel
on which Hitchcock's Vertigo is based),
Les diaboliques tells the story of a
sadistic headmaster (Paul Meurisse) who brutalises his wife and mistress (Véra
Clouzot and Simone Signoret) and their plot to murder him. Superbly edited with
nail-biting suspense, the two women murder the headmaster and dump the body in
the swimming pool, but when the pool is drained no corpse is found. An
unsettling and beautifully-paced study of betrayal, mistrust and guilt, Les
diaboliques is atmospherically shot in black and white, its murky tones
hauntingly echo the moral ambiguity of its principals.

***

In this heralded French terror classic by
director-screenwriter Henri-Georges Clouzot, the wife (Vera Clouzot) of a
boys-school headmaster (Paul Merisse) tires of his violent treatment of her,
along with his philandering, and teams up with his mistress (Simone Signoret) to
drown him and make it appear as a suicide. When the body goes missing and
sightings of the supposedly dead man are reported all over town, the two
mismatched women must uncover what happened to the body before it's discovered
what they've done. Upon its release, Clouzot urged all who saw the film not to
reveal its surprise ending---one which still stands as one of the original
'shock' endings.

***

An acknowledged influence on Psycho, Henri-Georges
Clouzot’s horror classic is the story of a sadistic headmaster who brutalizes
his fragile wife and his headstrong mistress. The two women murder him and dump
his body in a swimming pool; when the pool is drained, no corpse is found.

• Audio commentary by Professor Susan Hayward (director of film studies
at University of Exeter)

DVD Release Date: October 29th, 2007Keep Case
Chapters: 12

Release Information:Studio: Arrow Films

1080P
Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size:

24,249,432,466 bytes

Feature: 19,800,465,408 bytes

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Total Video Bitrate: 18.97 Mbps

Edition Details:

• Audio commentary by Susan Hayward, author of Les diaboliques (Cine-file French Film Guides)
• Original Trailer (2:32)
• Filmed interview with Ginette Vincendeau, French cinema
scholar, critic and author (28:58)
• Brand new writing on the film by author and critic Brad
Stevens and a re-printed interview with Clouzot by Paul Schrader
illustrated with stills and rare original set drawings by Léon Barsacq.
• Artwork presentation packaging including original posters
and a newly commissioned artwork cover

NOTE:The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.

ADDITION:
Criterion Collection - Region 'A' - Blu-ray -
May 11':We can see another big advantage to side-by-side comparisons.
Criterion's Blu-ray
edition boasts a 'new digital restoration' which has
significantly more information in the frame on all 4
edges
(see very last two captures.) Not that we should need too
many more points in Criterion's favor as the amount
cropped by the Arrow is surprising, but - the Criterion
transfer is dual-layered with almost twice
the bitrate
of the Arrow AND is cleaner
(see damage in 5th set of large captures where we took
the first frame - damaged on all other editions - even
Criterion's original DVD - as well as the next frame -
notable by the blurred hand position.) The restored
Criterion 1080P rendering is easily the best of all
compared.

The Criterion audio may be restored but I
couldn't notice a difference as it is transferred
exactly as the Arrow with a linear PCM mono track at
1152 kbps. There are, as expected, removable English
subtitles - with a slightly different translation at
times. The Criterion Blu-ray
is region 'A'-locked.

Criterion supply some wonderful extras; a
45-minute select-scene commentary by French-film scholar
Kelley Conway (author of Chanteuse in the City: The
Realist Singer in French Film) who analyzes several
scenes from Diabolique exploring Clouzot's themes
and style. We get a new 15-minute HD video introduction
by film preservationist and historian Serge Bromberg,
co-director of
Henri-Georges Clouzot’s “Inferno”
- a 2009 documentary about Clouzot's uncompleted film.
He
talks about how the filmmaker puts his unique visual
stamp on Diabolique. There is also a new
15-minute video interview (shot in London 2010) with
novelist and film critic Kim Newman on how the
groundbreaking Diabolique has influenced
countless horror films, including Psycho. There
is an original theatrical trailer and 20-page booklet
featuring an essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty.

Criterion wins this comparison although
Arrow have some solid extras that are worth indulging in
(Hayward commentary). North Americans should indulge in
the Criterion Blu-ray.

***

ADDITION:
Arrow Academy - Region FREE - Blu-ray -
April 11':This is a dual format release from Arrow - with a DVD enclosed of
the film along with the Blu-ray
edition. The presentation can look inconsistent - at
times quite strong and at other times the contrast is
muddy. The Arrow Academy 1080P transfer is
single-layered with a modest bitrate. It looks like it
may be a different print, in spots, than the DVDs. I'd like to
reserve more judgments on the image till we see the
Criterion Blu-ray
which is due for release
HERE on May 17th, 2011. It did look
excellent in-motion despite the deficiencies of the
source, and age, limitations of the print.

The audio is via a lossless linear PCM mono
track at 1152 kbps. It is imperfect but again at the
mercy of the source and sounded a shade more buoyant
than I recall ever hearing before from the DVDs. There are optional
subtitles that are different from the 2007 PAL DVD
edition. The Blu-ray
is region FREE.

Arrow retain the excellent audio commentary
by Susan Hayward, author of
Les Diaboliques (Cine-file French Film Guides)
and the original trailer but add another fabulous
supplement - a filmed 1/2 hour interview with French
cinema scholar, critic and author Ginette Vincendeau.
Also included is a liner notes booklet with a brand new
writing on the film by author and critic Brad Stevens
and a re-printed interview with Clouzot by Paul Schrader
illustrated with stills and rare original set drawings
by Léon Barsacq plus, described as, ' an artwork
presentation packaging including original posters and a
newly commissioned artwork cover.'

Don't be deterred by
the comparative caps as most are the first frame after a
scene change, where the source is at its weakest. Often
the next frame is sharper and it blends seamlessly into
the presentation. This gave me the best presentation of Les Diaboliques
that I have yet seen - but would fully expect the
Upcoming Criterion to
surpass it for those in region 'A'. The Arrow Academy
supplements here are excellent and add a strong value.
This is a huge part of our recommendation.

***

ADDITION:
Arrow Films - PAL - November 07':Both are single-layered and the print used (same) is weak but may be the
best available. No restoration appears to have been done but Criterion
may have boosted the brightness in a few scenes (darkened others).
Overall the bare-bones Criterion looks superior but it may not be enough
to recommend over the Arrow with its wonderful commentary from Susan
Hayward (director of film studies at University of Exeter). She is very
professional and brings up some relevant details in raising your
appreciation of Clouzot's layered
suspense film. Until someone restores this and includes relevant extras
I recommend the Arrow films.

About the Criterion: An early
Criterion and somewhat soft. There are instances of scratches and dirt,
but overall a progressive transfer and watchable print. Contrast and gray scales are a little weak by today's standards. Audio is
consistent for the most part. It's a damn interesting
film and one very worthy to own. You may wish to buy sooner rather than
later. No extras keeps this in the lower price-point. This is superior
to the French Region 2 from TV1 (no Eng subs) version listed HERE. out
of